Sri Lanka Cricket
Due to allegations that Danushka Gunathilaka sexually assaulted a lady in Sydney last week, Sri Lanka Cricket is looking into “several alleged events” at the T20 World Cup.
After a police investigation, Gunathilaka was apprehended at the Sri Lanka team hotel early on Sunday morning and charged with four charges of having sex without consent.
The 31-year-old, who has competed in eight Tests, 47 ODIs, and 46 T20s, is still being held in custody in Australia after twice having his bail request denied. The rest of the team has gone home minus Gunathilaka, who has been suspended from all forms of cricket by Sri Lanka Cricket.
A three-person panel will now be formed to look into the incident and other alleged incidents that took place while they were a guest in Australia, according to the governing body.
The probe will reportedly also look into reports that another team member was involved in a brawl at a casino in Brisbane, according to a report in Queensland’s Courier Mail. Sri Lanka Cricket did not provide specifics about the incidents that will be looked into.
In the days before the team’s World Cup Super 12s match against Afghanistan at the Gabba on November 1st, the anonymous player, according to Sri Lankan press, got into a confrontation with a group of men in a casino, the Courier Mail reports.
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce the appointment of a three-member investigation panel consisting of Justice Sisira Ratnayake (retired High Court judge), Mr. Niroshana Perera (attorney-at-law), and Mr. Asela Rekawa (attorney-at-law), to initiate an inquiry into the alleged incident involving player Danushka Gunathilaka,” read the statement.
“The committee will also concentrate its investigation on a number of alleged occurrences that have been brought to Sri Lanka Cricket’s attention and that are purported to have occurred during the national team’s visit to Australia.
The statement said, “The panel in this process will call for an immediate explanation from the team manager relative to his conduct, including references to the occurrence of such instances.” If any wrongdoing or negligence [is proven] while performing official duties, the executive committee will take severe disciplinary measures against the players and/or officials.
After being denied bail and instructed to remain in detention, Gunathilaka’s legal fees are apparently being covered by Sri Lanka Cricket. According to Anand Amaranath, his attorney, those payments should be “recovered from [Gunathilaka] later – it’s practically a loan”
Gunathilaka represented Sri Lanka in just one World Cup game before suffering a left hamstring strain that forced him to withdraw from the remainder of the competition.
The rest of Sri Lanka’s delegation has already returned home after being ousted from the Super 12s after losing their last game against England at the SCG over the weekend.
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